Method for erecting tower cranes



vApril 27, 1954 A. FAURE l-:TAL 2,676,388

METHOD FOR ERECTING TOWER C'RANESl u Filed Jan. 13. 1949 1l 4Sheets-Sheet 1 April 27, 1954 A. FAURE ETAL METHOD FOR ERECTING TOWER CRANES 11 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 13. 1949 [Ewen 01 April 27, 1954 A. FAURE ETAL 2,676,388 METHOD FOR ERECTING TOWER cRANEs Filed Jan. 1:5, 1949 11 sheets-sheet s F923 Fmg. 9

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April 27, 1954 A. FAURE ET AL METHOD FOR EREOTING TOWER cRANEs l1 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 13, 1949 Apnl 27, 1954 A. FAURE ETAL 2,676,388

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APIil 27, 1954 A. FAURE ETAL 2,676,388

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METHOD FOR ERECTING TOWER CRANES Filed Jan. 15, 1949 1l Sheets-Sheet 10 HNI-ahve" /59 afg April 27, 1954 A. FAURE ETAL 2,676,388

METHOD FOR ERECTING TOWER CRANES Filed Jan. 13, 1949 ll Sheets-Sheet l1 Patented Apr. 27, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD FOR ERECTIN G TOWER CRANES lAndr Faure and Antoine Faure, Firminy, France Application January 13, 1949, Serial No. 70,785 Claims priority, application France April 20, 1948 4 Claims.

Our invention relates to tower cranes of the type described in our prior specifications corresponding to the basic French Patents 806,727 of May 25, 1936, and 815,733 of December 31, 1936, the mounting of which cranes is ensured by means of a superposition of sections forming the tower, that are introduced in succession into the part of the crane forming the base thereof and are connected with the immediately overlying sections to be raised therewith by a suitable mechanism so as toproduce thus a step by step erection of the tower to the desired height.

When the crane is of somewhat considerable size, its base is too large for it to be possible to transport it any longer as a unit and this requires as already disclosed in our copending application corresponding to French Patent 979,027 led on March 13, 1942, delivered on December 6, 1950, and entitled, Improvements in Tower Cranes Constituted by Superposable Elements That Are Easily Mounted and Dismantled, constituting said base by means of a number of easily transportable parts that are assembled with one another at the place of erection and operation. On the other hand the sections of the tower `are also too heavy and too cumbersome to allow their easy displacement by mere manpower with a View to their introduction into the base and their successive raising through same.

. Ourinvention relates to a novel design and a novel manner of mounting such tower cranesy It consists chiefly in designing the head of the power crane in a manner such that it mayv allow before its mounting, its transformation, in association with a counter jib, into an auxiliary crane that is used for cooperation in the mounting of the base andalso for the unloading of the necessary machinery.

A further object of our invention consists in providing one or more suitably designed carriages, thenumber of which is preferably two, of which one supports at the moment of the mounting of the base the above mentioned auxiliary crane, said carriages being adapted to run over a track positioned along the desired axis of translation of the crane and serving subsequently as the platforms on which are assembled the tower sections, said rolling platforms being urged in succession and alternatingly into the base of the crane. One of these carriages allows introducing a section of the tower while the other serves foigthe raising movement inside the base and the parts played by them are alternatingly exchanged. p y l l y Our invention will be better understood vfrom examination of accompanying drawings, reference being made to accompanying diagrammatic drawings given out solely by way of exemplification and wherein:

Fig. 1 shows the entire tower crane in its assembled position and ready for operation.

Fig. 2 shows diagrammatically at a larger scale the head of the tower.

Fig. 3 shows how this head may be used temporarily as an auxiliary crane for unloading and mounting purposes.

Figs. 4 to 20 illustrate various stages of operation in the mounting.

Figs. 21 and 22 show at a larger scale in elevational view, respectively in front and side elevational view, the details of the mounting of the tower sections.

Figs. 23 to 27 inclusively illustrate Various details of the crane.

As illustrated, the head T of the crane includes a stationary pyramid-shaped part I (Figs. 1, 2 and 23) provided at its upper end with a pivot Ia and at its lower end with a circular guideway Ib whereby the part 2 capping the part I is adapted to revolve round its vertical axis. Said revoluble pyramid-shaped part 2 is provided at its upper end with a bearing 2a revolubly carried by the pivot Ia while the lower end of said part 2 carries four rollers 2b that roll over the circular rail or guideway Ib. Between the bearing 2a and the flange on the pivot Ia is inserted a ball thrust Ic. Said pivoting and revoluble part 2 or pivoting pyramid has securing points 3 and 4 for connection respectively with the jib 5 and with the counter jib 6, 6'. The stationary part I of the head T carries as shown diagrammatically at 'l in Fig. 2 a mechanism for the angular setting of the revoluble or pivoting pyramid 2 that carries in its turn a winch 8 providing for modifications in reach and that is designed to serve also as an auxiliary hoistingr winch. As illustrated more particularly in Fig. 23, the revoluble pyramid 2 is provided with an annular flange Id provided with an inner series of teeth meshing with a pinion 'la that may assume a rotary movement in either direction under the action of a motor lb through the agency of a worm and worm wheel speed reducer 1c.

The counter jib is constituted by two sections 6 and 6 assembled in alignment with one another and interconnected through the lower hinge point 9. A counterweight I0 is mounted at the outer end of the section 6 (Fig. l).

The tower P is constituted by superposed sections I2 assembled with one another.

As illustrated in Figs. 26 and 27, the base B mounted on rails I3 includes four bogies I4 constituted eachby two rollers Illb carried by a common support I4c adapted to pivot round a vertical asis through the agency of the pivot ltdl secured to a Stringer or cross member I6. The rollers oi two of said bogies are provided with an annular series or" teeth lie providing for the mechanical translational movement under the control ci a motor and a speed reducing gear that is not illustrated. Obviously there are two bogies behind one another on each rail.

Ilhe cross members I6 are constituted by beams carrying the pivots Md of the bogies. To said cross members are also secured the feet l5 of thev crane base through the agency of the bolts iib. These feet i5 are made of a metal latticework and carry the compartments lla and ilb to which they are secured through the bolts leb.

The compartments Het and Ib are constituted by surfaces of sheet metal that are suitably assen'ibled and stiiiened. When mounted, they are filled with steel rods thatserve for the bailasting oi the crane. The two compartments lla and llb are separated by a space housing a guiding member 25 and a winch system I8.

The guiding member 26 is constituted byl a metal skeleton bolted to the compartments lla and lib through the bolts llc. The guiding member is provided with rollers 26a between which may slide the sections l2 of the crane tower during the er ction of the latter.

The winch i9 includes a drum lea rigid with a toothed flange leb adapted to be driven by the pinion itc when it is brought into its operative position as provided through a shifting of the lever i3d the direction of the arrow f. The pinion i90 is carried by an intermediary shaft lee controlled by the motor lily through the agency of the gear work lg.

The cab 2e secured at the desired. height on one of the sides of the tower.

The vmounting' of such a tower crane is performed as follows with two carriages 22a and 22h,

after laying a supplementary track section 23 for said carriages, said track being narrower than the track i3 on which the crane is adapted to move, while being arranged along the same axis as the latter (Fig. 22).

At 'the moment where the working material arrives in situ, there is assembled on one of the carriages, say the carriage 22a, the head T of the tower illustrated separated in Fig. 2. To the point d of the latter, is pivotally secured the counter jib and there is added a tie rod 53 so as to form at between the elements 6 and t" oi the counter jib a gap that is held open by said tie rod. it should be remarked that these elements il and B oi the counter' jib are held in alignment for normal operation by means of a spindle engaging two cooperating eyes da as shown more particularly in Figs. 24 and 25, said spindle serving also as an attachment for the tie rod 2li that is used. as will be isclosed, for positioning the counter jib. The counterweight lo is secured to the counter jib through spindles Ia and Iib.

The insertion of the tie rod 53 between the elements of the counter jib as shown moreparticularly in Fig. 25 is obtained throughengagement thereof between the two pivots @a that are shown in superposition in Fig. 24 for which thecounter jib elements are in alignment; pulleys 6b and Sc are also secured to the ends of the smaller element of the counter jib, to allow an easy passage of the positioning cable as described hereinafter. The counter jib thus transformed into an auxiliary crane is then raised and it is held in position by means of a further tie rod 24. There is also seouied to the pivoting pyramid 2 the counterweight Ill; this provides thus an auxiliary crane A the hoisting and angular setting of which are produced mechanically as shown in Fig. 3 and this auxiliary crane allows controlling any desired part of the main crane with a view to unloading it from the transportation trucks and to mounting the base.

The mounting of the tower crane is executed substantially as follows, the control cab 20 lying on the ground quite close to the location over which the base is to be mounted while a temporary connection is provided between it and the Various motors controlled from said cab. For

' this purpose, the cab includes the starting controllers for the motors providing for the different movements of the train together with the corresponding electric resistances. The cab includes, therefore, a controller for the hoisting winch I9, a further controller for the reach-modiiying winch 3 (Fig. 2) and a controller for the mechanism 1 controlling the angular setting of the jib.

Whatever may be the location of the cab, it is sufficient to establish an electric connection between the controllers and the corresponding motors in order to provide through operation of said controller, for a rotationv of the diierent motors and a starting of the mechanism when it is desired to use same.

rl`he rst bogey is positioned and set over one of the rails forming the track i3 and it then receives through operation of the auxiliary crane A a corresponding foot l (Fig. 4) that is held temporarily in position by means of stays or the like suitable struts.

Use is then made of the same crane A for positioning the cross-member I6' that is assembled with the foot le as shown in Fig. 5;, the crossmember is held by suitable wedging up members 25 until the second bogey i4 is mounted in a similar manner as shown in Fig. 6 with a second foot l5 that is assembled with the cross-member IG. rEhe foot l5 is in its turn held by suitable struts or stays. The compartment or caisson I'ia is then mounted over the feet l5 and assembled therewith as shown in Fig. 7. The same sequence of operations is then perfor-med over the other rail to obtain a symmetrical structure.

It is then suiicient in order to nish the mounting of the base B to position the complete guide member 23 and to assemble it with the compartments or caissons lla and l'ib underlying it (Fig. 8) For this purpose, the guiding member 2S may include the raising screws 2l illustrated with further detail in Figs. 26 and 27. Said screws 2l are rigidly secured at. 21a to the two ends oi the cross member or lifting beam 26 and engage corresponding nuts 2lb carried by the guiding member Said nuts are each rigid with a bevel wheel meshing with a pinion 21C rigid with a chain wheel 2id. The compartments il being suitably ballasted,y the winch i9 is then set on the base thus formed with the guide member 2E at the top of said base.

When the lever Idd of the hoisting winch I9 is urged in a direction opposed to the arrow f, the pinion itc releases the toothed flange lsb and meshes with the toothed wheel 21e. It is then possible, after starting the motor l9f, to provide for the rotation of the intermediary shaft Zig' carrying thel toothed wheel 27e in order to control the transmission chains 21h and therethrough the rotation of the nuts 2lb. The latter in their turn provide for thev upward or downward movement of the screws 2,1 on the cross member 28 and of the material carried by the latter.

VIt is thus apparent that theoperation of the lever |901 provides for the selective coupling of the control motor I9f either with the hoisting winch or with the screws 2'I adapted to raise the cross member 28. It should be remarked that the guiding member 26 is of the type described in our above mentioned prior specication.

The use of the auxiliary crane A is then at an end and it is dismantled so as to leave on the carriage 22a only the actual head T of the crane tower. The screws 2l on the lifting beam 28 are coupled with the winch I9 that is connected with the controller housed inside the adjacent cab as disclosed hereinabove. The beam 28 is then caused to sink down to ground as shown in Fig. 10, the track 23 being interrupted to this purpose so as to allow said beam 28 to iit inside it.

The carriage 22a'l carrying the tower head T is then urged forwardly into vertical register with the axis of the crane over the beam 28 and the system including the carriage and the tower head i's-.then raised through the raising of the beam 28 as shown in Fig. 12. Only the head of the tower is then connected with the guiding member 26 on the base B and remains hanging therefrom after the raising beam 23 has been lowered with the carriage 22a (Fig. 13). time a section I 2 of the tower has been assembled on the other carriage 22b; the carriage 22a is removed over the rails and is r-eplaced by the said carriage 22h that is brought into vertical register with the axis of the crane, over the beam 28 under thebase B (Fig. 14).

The raising beam 28 is again raised together with the carriage 2217, the section I2 and the head T that is now assembled with said section I2 after it has been disconnected with reference to the guiding member 26. The assembly is securely'fixed to thebase B in this further raised position (Fig. 15). The assembling of the different sections I2 of the tower is illustrated in Fig. 27: there are .used to this I2b. Said' gure also shows inV dot-and-dash lines a cross beam 33a. carrying the pulley 33h over whichV passes the cable 33 that is attached at 33e to ther drum I 9a of the hoisting winch.

` The jib 5 can now be counter-jib 6 6'.

The sections ofthe jib are assembled on the ground and its normally outer end rests on the available carriage 22a (Fig. 16). The screws 2'I are. disconnected with reference to the winch I9 and a cable 29 is secured to the drum of said winch and caused to ,pass from said drum on to guiding pulleys to be Iinally attached to the end of the jib 5 adjacent to Aits hinge point 3.

The actuation of the winch I9 produces then a rising movement of the rear end of the jib, the above mentioned hinge 3 of which is brought into position on the head Tof the tower 8 which allows introducing the spindle that is to connect permanently the foot of the jib to the head of the tower. The cable 29 is then caused to passV over the tackle gear 39 inserted between the end of the stay 32 ofsaid jib and the upper end of the tower head (Fig. 17). The jib should be previously fitted with all the cables that may be necessary.

Through actuation of the winch I 9, the jib is now brought into its nal horizontal position (Fig. 18) and its stay 32 is connected with the purpose bolted iish plates mounted as well as the its jib and counter jib on a upper end of the head of thetower T after removal of the intermediate tackle.

The counter-jib 6-6 is then mounted in a similar manner and there is nally obtained a system as illustrated in Fig. 19. The cable 29 that lhas been used for raising in succession ther jib and the counter-jib is then removed and taken off the winch drum I9 to which the raising jack screws 21 are again coupled. The rigid connection with the tower section provided as mentioned with reference to Fig. 14 is cut out so as to allow a downward movement of the lifting beam 28 together with the carriage 22h.

By using in alternation the carriages 22a and 221i, it is possible to mount in succession the different sections I2 while proceeding as disclosed hereinabove, the different sections being assembled together so as to obtain a tower T of the desired height; The last carriage which has been used for raising the last section may thus remain inthe assembly as shown in Fig. 2O and it isthen rigidly secured to the base in order to form the connecting member for the system including the tower T and the base B.

The tower crane being thus erected, the hoisting cable 33 is fitted through its securing to the winch I9 after a final disengagement of the screws Zithe beam 28 that is locked in its upper position.

There only remains now to secure the controlling cab 2B that was up to the moment considered laid on the ground in proximity with the location of the crane; to this purpose the temporary connection between the winch motor Iand the controller located in said cab is out out, the cab is hooked to the tackle block of the crane that raises said cab through actuation of the winch by a hand operated crank provided to this purpose and the lifting ofthe cab continues up to the desired level at which it is secured to the suitable side of the tower.

To ensure the lifting of said cab, it is also possible to resort to an auxiliary controller for operating the winch, which arrangement would do away with hand control.

. What we claim is:

1. A method for erecting a wheeled towercrane adapted to move over 'rails and including a base, a tower, a jib, a counter jib and a tower head to which said jib and counter jib are to be pivotally secured, consisting in providing a narrow trackv between the rails that are to carry the towercrane, mounting the tower head without carriage adapted to run over the narrow track, pivotally securing the disassembled counter` jib to the tower head on the carriage to form a small auxiliary crane running over said narrow track, incorporating to said auxiliary crane auxiliaries required for hoisting purposes, positioning a plurality of bogies over the crane rails, causing the auxiliary crane on the narrow track to lay crane base feet over the different bogies, staying the system of feet and bogies, using the auxiliary crane for positioning a cross member between the base feet, using the vauxiliary crane to lay a guiding member over the feet to form aunitary base structurewithsaid feet and'bogies, laying longitudinal compartments through the agency of the auxiliary crane over said unitary structure, causing the auxiliary crane to lay a winch on said guiding member, dismantling the auxiliary crane to leave on the carriage only the head of the crane tower, and raising the tower, tower head and jib and counter jib into position over the base erected thus through the agency of the auxiliary crane.

2. A method for erecting a wheeled tower crane adapted to move over rails and including a jib, a counter jib, a tower head to which said jib and counter jib are to be pivotally secured, a basey including bogies, feet, lower cross members, staying the feet and upper guiding members staying the upper ends of the feet, a self-hoisting body including raising jacks, a lifting beam carrying same, a winch and a plurality of sections to be superposed between the base and the head, said method consisting in providing a narrow track between the rails that are to carry the tower crane, mounting the tower head without its jib and counter jib on a carriage adapted to run over the narrow track, opening the counter jib and staying it into a bracket shape, pivotally securing the disassembled bracketshaped counter` iib to the tower head on the carriage to form a small auxiliary crane running over said narrow track, incorporating to said auxiliary crane auxiliaries required for hoisting purposes, positioning a plurality of bogies over the crane rails, causing the auxiliary crane' on the narrow track to lay crane base feet over the said bogies, staying the system of feet and bogies, using the auxiliary crane for positioning a cross member between the base feet, using the auxiliary crane to lay a guiding member over the feet to form a unitary base structure with said feet and bogies, laying longitudinal compartments through the agency of the auxiliary crane over said unitary structure, causing the auxiliary crane to lay a winch on said guiding member, dismantling the auxiliary crane to leave on the carriage only the head of the crane tower, and raising the tower, tower head and jib and counter jib into position over the base erected thus through the agency of the auxiliary crane.

3. A method for erecting a wheeled tower crane adapted to move over rails and including a jib, a lcounter jib, a tower head to which said jib and counter jib are to be pivotally secured, a base including bogies, feet, lower cross members staying the feet and upper guiding members staying the upper ends of. the feet, a self-hoisting body including raising jacks, a lifting beam carrying same, a winch and a plurality of sections to be superposed between the base and the head, said method consisting in providing a narrow track between the rails that are to carry the tower crane, mounting the tower head without its jib and counter jib on a carriage adapted to run over the narrow track, opening the counter jib and staying it into a bracket shape, pivotally securing the disassembled bracket-shaped counter jib to the tower head on the carriage to form a small auxiliary crane running over said narrow track, incorporating to said auxiliary crane auxiliaries required for hoisting purposes, positioning a plurality of bogies over the crane rails, causing the auxiliary crane on the narrow track to lay crane base feet over the said bogies, staying the system of feet and bogies, using the auxiliary crane for `positioning a cross member between the base feet, using the auxiliary crane to lay a guiding member over the feet to form a unitary base structure with said feet and bogies,

laying longitudinal compartments through the agency of the auxiliary crane over said unitary structure, causing the auxiliary crane to lay a winch on said guiding member, dismantling the auxiliary crane to leave on the carriage only the head of the crane tower, returning the carriage into register with the axis of the crane and raising the tower head through the agency of the jacks, connecting the tower head transiently with the guiding member, setting the different sections of the tower in succession on the carriage and on a second carriage adapted to run over the narrow track, causing the jacks to raise said sections successively and in alternation off the two carriages carrying them, assembling together the diierent sections and the head, raising the assembly into its raised position on the base, and raising the jib and counter jib into their final positions for which they are pivotally secured to the tower head in its raised position.

4. A method for erecting a wheeled tower crane adapted to move over rails and including a base, a tower, a jib, a counter jib and a tower head to which said jib and counter jib are to be pivotally secured, consisting in providing a narrow track between the rails that are to carry the tower crane, mounting the tower head without its jib and counter jib on a carriage adapted to run over the narrow track, `pivotally securing the disassembled counter jib to the tower head on the carriage to form a small auxiliary crane running over said narrow track, incorporating to said auxiliary crane auxiliaries required for hoisting purposes, positioning a plurality of bogies over the crane rails, causing the auxiliary crane on the narrow track to lay crane base feet over the said bogies, staying the system of feet and bogies, using the auxiliary crane for positioning a cross member between the base feet, using the auxiliary crane to lay a guiding member over the feet to form a unitary base structure with said feet and bogies, laying longitudinal compartments through the agency of the auxiliary crane over said unitary structure, causing the auxiliary crane to lay a winch on said guiding members, dismantling the auxiliary crane to leave on the carriage only the head of the crane tower, using the above mentioned carriage and a further carriage rolling over the narrow track for raising in succession through the operation of raising means carried by the base the towei` head and the successive tower elements alternatingly through the agency of either carriage, the successively raised elements raising the precedingly raised element and being rigidly connected therewith, and raising the jib and counter jib into position with reference to the raised head for pivotally securing them thereto. 

